During the Sunday night award show, the 51-year-old comedian invited the accountants from PricewaterhouseCooper, who calculate the Academy voting results, to join him on stage.

Instead of actual employees, three young Asian children dressed in suits and carrying briefcases were brought on stage and introduced by Rock as Ming Zu, Bao Ling and David Moskowitz.

“If anybody’s upset about that joke, just tweet about it on your phone that was also made by these kids,” he said. The joke is believed to be a veiled reference to Asia child labor laws.

Following the sketch, many celebrities shared their distaste on Twitter.

“Seriously though, when is this going to change?!? Tired of it being ‘cool’ and ‘ok’ to bash Asians smh,” Charlotte Hornets basketball pro Jeremy Lin wrote.

“To parade little kids on stage with no speaking lines merely to be the butt of a racist joke is reductive and gross. Antithesis of progress,” Fresh Off the Boat actress Constance Wu tweeted. Read more